John Woo presents Stranglehold

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JaySevenZero
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John Woo presents Stranglehold

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Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for John Woo Presents Stranglehold for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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grantjones86
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Re: 531: John Woo Presents Stranglehold

Post by grantjones86 »

I recently revisited Stranglehold and had a real blast. It's utterly bonkers, opting for style over practicality and yet, nailing headshots as you grind down railings in your shoes is something more games should do. Missions are straightforward and it indulges in the fact that this is clearly a game that wants you to have fun. Visually, it is a bit scruffy but the appeal here is the destructible scenery. Recalling utter dreck like Super Runabout or Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions, Stranglehold takes those ideas of destructive environments and executes them more effectively in levels that encourage aggression, thanks in part to the more powerful hardware of the Xbox 360/PS3. If you like combo-driven shooters like The Club or the Mercenaries mode in Resi 4, but with the style of Max Payne and the gritty locale of Sleeping Dogs - not only do you have great taste, but you also are guaranteed an evening of enjoyable OTT action. A bit like a John Woo film then.
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Tolkientaters
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Re: 531: John Woo Presents Stranglehold

Post by Tolkientaters »

This is an interesting game to play in 2022, it's a lot of fun, but mechanics wise it's a bit of a mess. However I think it does have a standout look and the absurd amount of destruction really helps recreate the John Woo action aesthetic. The environmental action acrobatic moves can be a little too frustrating to pull off consistently. As for the shooting it's fun as hell and I don't understand stand why we don't have more shooters with the slow mo mechanic. The story is kind of awful and it's unclear why you would bring in Chow Yun-Fat for a English spoken role instead of having a Catonese audio option. That being said it's worth checking out if you have a PC or 360/PS3.
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